The present invention relates to a jaw rest for supporting the jaw of a deceased person.
When a person dies the first phenomenon to occur is a complete relaxation of the body.
Where the jaw is concerned, this manifests itself in that it xe2x80x9cfalls downxe2x80x9d towards the chin, resulting in the deceased person lying with a partly open mouth.
Before rigor mortis, literally xe2x80x9cstiffness of deathxe2x80x9d, sets in, normally after two to five hours, the jaw must therefore be pressed upwards manually, not least for aesthetic reasons, so that the mouth remains closed.
Normally, the solution to this problem is that during the preliminary preparation of the deceased use is made of a bandage that is usually a part of the kit which is used for attending to the bodies of the newly dead. This bandage is placed under the chin of the deceased person, laid over the cheek on either side and tied together or fastened on top of the head.
Many view this as a difficult process, and usually two persons are required to carry out this task so as to obtain a satisfactory result, i.e., one person presses the deceased person""s jaw upwards and another places the bandage under the chin of the deceased and fastens it on the top of the head with a knot, safety pins, or with a form of self-adhesive/self-locking bandage.
Thus, this method of bandaging up the jaw of a deceased person has certain weaknesses, as can be heard from those with practical experience:
1. The process is difficult and the bandage is apt to be become loose and fall off.
2. There must often be two persons in order to obtain a satisfactory result.
3. In addition to being difficult for the carers, this process is also aesthetically rather unattractive as the deceased person is scarcely recognisable with the bandage on. The cheeks lie in folds, the hair is barely visible, and together these together mean that the bereaved family, who usually would like to see the deceased person immediately after death, do not xe2x80x9crecognisexe2x80x9d their departed family member. Thus, this is a far from pleasing and aesthetic way of presenting deceased persons.
4. Lastly, the carers or undertakers must often attend to the same dead person several times. This means to say that the first preparation of the body is done immediately after death, and it is at this point that the jaw is bound up in the described manner. Later it is often necessary to take the bandage off to do the hair and so forth when the bereaved family are to see the deceased person.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which will solve the aforementioned problems and replace the method of bandaging up the jaw used today.
It is an object of the invention to enable one person to put the jaw in place in the closed position simply and easily and in such manner that it remains there until rigor mortis has set in.
The jaw rest referred to in the introduction is characterised by the features disclosed in the patent claims.
A jaw rest of this kind according to the invention may have various forms as will be described in more detail below.